Update 11/21/22: Rate increased to 4.33%.
Update: Interest rate dropped to 2.02% APY on $15K as of 4/6/21
Offer at a glance
- Interest Rate: 4.07%
- Minimum Balance: None listed
- Maximum Balance: $15,000
- Availability: AR & MS
- Direct deposit required: Not required
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull:Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: Unknown
- Monthly fees: None
- Insured: FDIC
The Offer
- First Financial Bank offers a free Kasasa cash checking account. This offers an APY of 4.07% on balances up to $15,000 when the requirements are met (0.05% APY when not met). The requirements are as follows (must meet these every monthly qualification cycle):
- At least 12 debit card purchases
- Be enrolled in and agree to receive eStatements
- Be enrolled in and log into online banking
The Fine Print
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Rate History
- November 27th, 2017 – Current: 4.07%
- January 1st, 2015 – November 27th, 2017: 2%
- January 30th, 2013 – December 30th, 2014: 3%
Avoiding Fees
This account has no monthly fees. In addition you also receive ATM withdrawal fee refunds on any ATM transactions made within the USA when you meet the requirements for the 4.07% APY rate.
Our Verdict
It’s rare to see a rate this high, that also offers a high maximum balance and no direct deposit requirement. I honestly don’t expect this one to last that long, but rates are on the rise so I might be wrong. There are still better accounts like the Insight 5% APY/$5,000 so I’d max those out first but for those that are already doing that this adds a lot of extra capacity at a good rate. You can view the best savings rates here. First Financial Bank uses the same qualification dates for every customer, they have the 2017 dates here. I’ll update this post once they add the 2018 dates.
As always please share your own experiences in the comments below.
